Toy, advertising, and display device



March 1941- R HOLLINGSWORTH ETAL 2,236,431

TOY, ADVERTISING, AND DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Oct. 12, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l A TTORNEYS.

March 1941- R L. HOLLINGSWORTH ETAL 2,236,431

TOY, ADVERTISING, AND DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Oct. 12, '1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TORS BY 1; 1 i? ATTORNEYS.

:"atented Mar. 2

I UNITED STATES 2,236,431 'ror, nnvnn'rrsmo, AND msrLu-pnvrcn R. Lee Hollingsworth and Elizabeth Hollingsworth, Riverhead, N. Y.

Application ottom- 12, 1939, set-lame. 299,226 6 Claims. (01. 46- 13) 'The present 'invention aims to supply a new structurewhereby sound is produced within or adjacent to a vehicle as it advances, the vehicle preferably but not necessarily being mounted to move along a track, and the sound being of such nature as may be desired. The structure may be embodied in a toy if preferred, or in'a display or advertising device. This invention relates to mechanical and electrical toy trains.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

with the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may he made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fla. 1 shows in longitudinal section, a portion bodied;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation of the rear coach; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a modification;

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-4; of Fig. 2-

Fig. 6 is a cross section showing a modification in the sound rail, parts being in elevation;

Fig. 7 is a cross section showing a modified sound rail and a mechanism for shifting the reproducer transversely, relatively to the rail;

Fig. 8 is a top plan showing a modification, em bodied in a long-playing record, adapted to fit between or beneath the tracks;

Fig. 9 is a top plan showing another modification of the structure shown in Fig. 8, the track being of elongated, loop-shape, rather than circular; 4

Fig. 10 is a cross section of the structure shown in Figs. 8 and 9, but when severalsound grooves are joined to produce a continuous record, upon all tracks used by the train.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and '3, the numeral l designates the rails of a toy railroad track, mounted on ties 2. or carried otherwise. A locomotive engine of the toy variety, marked by the numeral 3, is provided. Any desired number of intermediate coaches 4 may be supplied, the train including a caboose 'or terminal coach 5. The engine- 1 and the coaches I and 5 are wheelmounted, as shown at i, to traverse the rails I. The constituent members of the. train may be coupled by any means indicated generally at I, 5

and are vestibuled together, as at It.

The forward coach 4 is open more or less at its forward end, as shown at 8. Consequently, when sound of any kind is produced within the train, the sound will be carried forwardly to a 10 point adjacent to the engine 3.

' The means for producing sound within the train may be of widely diiferent sorts, and large latitude in that respect is desired. If preferred, a

sound rail 9 may be carried on the ties 2, between composition. This recording on the tracks may 20 be cut, stamped, or engraved, and this system definitely includes all types of vibrations produced in this manner, when said vibrations are sufficient in number to produce recdgnizable and intelligible sounds.

The rear wall of the terminal coach 5 has an opening l2, and in the rear wall of the coach there is a curved slot it, communicating with the opening. The numeral i5 marks a phonographic reproducer having a rearwardly extended finger it. The reproducer i5 is located in the opening ii,

that opening being prolonged, as at H, into the bottom of the coach 5. The needle is of the reproducer i5 is adapted to move along the sound groove to of the rail 9. The reproducer i5 is piv- 3 oted at i9, in the usual way, to an amplifier or funnel 20, disposed in the coach A two-part arm 2| is provided, and has its rear end secured to the funnelor amplifier 20. At its forwardend, the arm V2! is pivotally mounted at 22, on the roof of the coach 5, and is pivotally mounted at 23 onthe floor of the coach, for swinging movement about a substantially vertical axis. Thevpivotal mounting of the .arm 2|, at 22-23, for movement about a substantially vertibeing engaged in the slot ll of Fig. 3a

In view of the simplicity of the structure. its operation will be evident when Fig. 1 of the drawings is noted. The sound, whatever be its nature,

I t 50v operate, it can be swung upwardly, the finger It a traverses the train and is delivered at the forward end of the train, adjacent to the toy locomotive 8.

In Fig. 4, parts hereinbefore described have been designated by numerals already used. with 5 the suflix "b." Here, the invention is shown as embodied in a single coach or vehicle. The reproducer lib operates in an opening lib in the bottom of the coach 5b, the sound passing out through a grid24, or similar openings, in the top of the coach, under the control of a hingedly mounted sound damper 25.v

In Fig. 7, the rail is marked by the numeral 45, and comprises cooperating members 4|, located side by side, and held together by any desired number of securing elements 42. In .its ball, the rail 40 has a longitudinal recess 43, and where this recess intersects the upper surface of the ball, there are formed edges 44, carrying the sound grooves which cooperate, one at a time,

with a needle 45, constituting part of a reproducer 45.

A spring means of any desired sort, for instance, a pull spring 41, is provided, for causing the needle 45 of the reproducer 45 to cooperate with one of the sound grooves of the rail 45, when the vehicle moves in one direction one end of the spring being attached to the reproducer, and the opposite end of the spring being connected to a coach-carried bracket 45.

In order to move the reproducer 45 laterally, and to cause the needle 45 to cooperate with the left hand sound groove in Fig. 7, when the vehicle moves in an opposite direction, there is sup plied a reversing mechanism 49 operating electrically, and under the control of a reversing switch 50, which functions when the direction of movement of the train is reversed. The switch 55 may be operated from the train, or otherwise, and the reversing mechanism, indicated diagrammatically in the drawings, may be of standard form, or of any known construction.

In Fig. 6, the rail is shown at 5| and carries a facing 52 which overlaps one edge of the ball of the rail. It is in the said overlapped portion of the facing 52 that the sound groove is formed. The sound groove cooperates with the needle 53 of a reproducer 54, mounted for lateral swinging movement. The means for causing the needle 53 to cooperate with the sound groove of the facing so 52 may be of various sorts. As shown, but not of necessity, the reproducer 54 and associated parts are drawn laterally by a retractile spring 55, connected to the reproducer and to an anchorage element 56 on the coach.

55 In Fig. 8, a circular track 51 is shown, the

rails of the track being designated by the numeral 58. Between the track rails 55, the track 51 has a depression 59, a spiral sound groove 60 being formed in the depression.

60 In Figure 9, parts hereinbefore described in connection with the form depicted in Fig. 8 are designated by reference characters already used, with the suffix c. Thetrack 510 is of elongated form, rather than circular.

In Fig. 10, parts hereinbefore described have been designated by numerals already used, with duce, a continuous record, upon all tracks used by the train. 5

The parts 51 of Fig. 8 and 510 of Fig. 9 may be described generically as being of endless loop shape, and the sound tracks 55 and 59c conform to the general loop shape of the parts 51 and" 510, respectively. 10

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In miniature rolling stock, a vehicle, a fixed guiding structure upon and along which the vehicle moves, to define the direction of travel of 15 the vehicle, the guiding structure including a sound track following the direction of travel, and a sound reproducer on the vehicle and including a part separately movable in a transverse direction cooperating with the sound track so when the vehicle is advanced.

2. In miniature rolling stock, a vehicle, a'track rail upon and along which the vehicle moves, the track rail including a sound track following the direction of travel of. the vehicle,and a sound 25 reproducer on the vehicle and including a part separately movable in a transverse direction cooperating with the sound track when the vehicle is advanced.

3. In miniature rolling stock, a vehicle, a fixed so guiding structure including a track rail upon and along which the vehicle moves, to define the direction of travel of the vehicle, the guiding structure including a sound track following the direction of travel of the vehicle and distinct 35 from the track rail, and a sound reproducer on the vehicle and including a part separately movable in a transverse direction cooperating with the sound track when,the vehicle is advanced.

4. In miniature rolling stock, a vehicle, a fixed 4D guiding structure upon and along which the vehicle moves, to define the direction of travel of the vehicle, the guiding structure comprising a part having a longitudinal recess, there being oppositely-facing sound tracks in said part of 4a the guiding structure, at opposite sides of the recess, a sound reproducer on the vehicle and including a part separately movable in a transverse direction cooperating with the sound tracks one at a time, when the vehicle is advanced. and means for shifting the reproducer from one sound track to the other.

5. Miniature rolling stock constructed as set forth in claim 1, and wherein the sound track is carried by one side of the guiding structure, in combination with yieldable means associated with the vehicle and with the reproducer and maintaining said part of the reproducer in operative relation to the sound track.

6. Miniature rolling stock constructed as set so forth in claim 1, and wherein the guiding structure is of endless loop shape, the sound track being spiral and the convolutions thereof conforming to the general loop shape of the track.

RP LEE HOILINGSWORTH. 55 ELIZABETH HOLLINGSWORTH. 

